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Hey, don't feel too bad about your fall. My first fall as a re-rider was something just as stupid. I was on my saint of a gelding riding bareback in an indoor arena. We were at a very nice, relaxed walk, rounded a turn, and the lights from the indoor glinted off of a metal piece on the wall. The flash made him stop dead in his tracks... whilst I slid gracefully on down his left shoulder. hahaha!

Funniest part of mine was that I, not remembering to "just fall," held on for dear life with my arms around his neck and the heel of my right foot hooked on his withers. And he just stood there. While I hung off of him. Until I decided about 20 seconds later to slide off the rest of the way. Talk about saintly! Thank goodness for great-minded horses.

I've found a horse to part-lease, and he's lovely :-D. He's a 15.2ish hh 11ish y/o Quarter Horse/Percheron cross. I've ridden him 3 times so far (including trying him). He's definitely going to teach me to be VERY correct in my seat as he's such a wiggle worm! Right now we're focussing on getting him between the aids, so I'm riding with a fairly long rein/little contact and lots of leg. Which is great because it reminds me to SIT BACK since as soon as I tip forward he goes forward/downhill!

Anyway....so far its a story of my muscles remembering how to ride and feeling very lucky I have such a great horse to re teach myself on. I will be starting lessons next Sunday every other week so am looking forward to that as right now I don't feel comfortable jumping without an instructor present.

I may try to make Rolex this year as I've never been & finally wont have any exams to study for!!

Congrats Event4Life! Can you post a picture of your new horse? Welcome back to re-riders club. We'll be happy to share the wine and Advil!

Pancakes where are you? Are things ok?

I think we should all try to meet at Rolex. We'll have to wear those dorky "hello my name is..." nametags with our screen names on them or we won't have any idea who anyone is!

The only pic I have so far is a not very exciting one of him grazing, after rolling, after I gave him a nice long grooming, typical gray horse :-P.....Hoping to get a friend out with a camera soon so pics to come!

Congrats on the lease Event4Life! It's always nice to have one that's "yours." And to those of you who've had a tumble and just gotten up and laughed...how on earth did you do it??? I would have been injured, bruised, scared and in the worst mood ever. Yes, I know it happens, and we just have to shake it off and get back on, but it gets harder as one gets older.

Had a good lesson this morning on a schoolie I had not ridden since January. He was a good boy. I'd like to think that riding many different horses over the past year has been a big help to my riding. Even so, Mr. All Better is on full training board until 1/1/13 so the barn can deal with any happy bucks and feel-good shenanigans. As expected, the major vet visit was major, and the specialist recommended a change in shoeing, which was farrier was all in favor of. She said she's happy with the horse's recovery so far, but thought that we had not addressed some back and shoe issues that possibly, if left alone, could cause future lameness. Before Thursday's vet visit, the horse had cantered soundly two days in a row, without drugs, and without incident. We knew he'd be sound for Day1, but were all crossing our fingers and holding our breath for Day 2.

Beautiful weather here today and tomorrow, and a short work week coming up. Happy riding to all!

Dewey, that horse is so gorgeous! I don't know how I feel about shipping a horse that far that may or may not work out, though... She is beautiful though, and very well put together.

I'm actually going to look at a horse this week, I think. I am kind of halfhearted about it because I feel so out of sorts in general. Work has been terrible, my confidence at work/at home and in general is crap, and working overnights is causing the fading cough/illness to linger and make me physically feel ill. But this horse is a 6yr old 16.2h dark bay gelding that has a great mind and work ethic. They want more for him than I can spend, but the price is negotiable to a good home. So we'll see!

My aunt makes some progress, and is nearly off all sedation, but today she suffered a setback and isn't as responsive as she used to be. They're doing brain scans today to see what the problem is.

This whole month sucks. I just want to run to the barn and stay there with the horses cuddling them and my friends all day...but the real world begs attention too. I know things will get better eventually, but it's hard to not feel like you're stuck in the mud all the time.

Hang in there Pancakes. Thanks for checking in. We're all here for you. Let us know how it goes this week with the horse trial. For what it's worth, the horse I was going to buy and had in on trial didn't pass the vet check. The second one is the love of my life (and was double what I was planning on spending!)

Maybe you should think about meeting at Rolex? It would give you something to look forward to?

let me know who is going Rolex? we bought our tickets already..
Had a really good lesson on our new guy then he goes and decides he wants time off and gets 12 stitches in his left hind leg! UGH!
This guy is going to teach me so much. I just have to build my confidence and RELAX! so I can canter......anyone have any ideas other than a glass of wine before I ride?

Mai Tai aka Tyler RIP March 1994-December 2011
Grief is the price we pay for love- Gretchen Jackson
"And here she comes. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's ZENYATTA!"

Hang in there Pancakes. I think going to see that horse will do you good, even if you decide it's not the right horse. But you won't find the perfect horse if you don't keep your eyes out. Have fun with it. Good wishes for your aunt.

I watch my trainer all the time! I had a bad fall last summer off of another horse and it really set me back with my confidence. I just have to know I can stop him! He is so wonderful and I know he will teach me a lot...
I have to talk myself into relaxing... Our last horse was my heart horse and he was so intuned to my issues and he never took advantage. Actually, he was more of a push ride instead of a go ride. It just made it easier for me...

Mai Tai aka Tyler RIP March 1994-December 2011
Grief is the price we pay for love- Gretchen Jackson
"And here she comes. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's ZENYATTA!"

ivy62 - I totally understand where you are coming from. I had a bad fall in the summer of 2010 when my horse stumbled at the canter, got a little freaked out about regaining his balance, and started bucking like a bronco. Ended up with a broken collar bone and bruising like I have never encountered before. It is now 2 years later, and I am much better, but I still have apprehensive days, and the doubt creeps in sometimes, particularly if my horse is acting up a bit, or the weather conditions are bad. I know intellectually that I will be fine, but the emotions take over occasionally. When I first started back, cantering in the round pen when I felt nervous was great. I also thought the Jane Savoie CD series "Freedom from Fear" was very helpful - although it is a little pricey.

Hang in there Pancakes, prayers headed your way for your aunt, and for you that you can shake be remnants of your cold and spend more healing time with horses. And that you find your equine partner soon.

pomy4me - I can't recall, have you had a chiro out to look at Mr. All Better? After being off for so long, he may need adjusting now that he is back in work.

Event4Life - congrats on the new horse!

If anyone who plans to go to Rolex wants to PM me, I will keep a running list of COTH names, real names, and email addresses and keep track so we can all coordinate meeting up at some point in Lexington. I promise, I am not a cyber-stalker who will reveal your info on the BB!

Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion.... ~ Emerson

Hang in there Pancakes, prayers headed your way for your aunt, and for you that you can shake be remnants of your cold and spend more healing time with horses. And that you find your equine partner soon.

pomy4me - I can't recall, have you had a chiro out to look at Mr. All Better? After being off for so long, he may need adjusting now that he is back in work.

[/QUOTE]

Ditto on best wishes and hugs to Pancakes. And in answer to your question, Tarheel, yes Mr. All Better is totally UTD on chiro and massage. Both are regular services at the barn, and he's on schedule for every visit. He should be back to work on Tuesday.

Well, I just saw the Stubben Black Monday sale list, and thank goodness they didn't have what I wanted.

I have been in a fever over this the past couple of days. I have wanted a new Roxane VSS for a long time, and my excuse for getting one was that my faithful Siegfried that I bought used in 1979 is just a tad wide for Sky. But thank goodness they didn't have one in the width she would require. I don't really need a new saddle. I should just look into getting mine reflocked instead.

Some beautiful saddles on that list, though.

I heard a neigh. Oh, such a brisk and melodious neigh as that was! My very heart leaped with delight at the sound. --Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hey folks, just a brief check-in as I am at work... Still sending "chin up!" feelings to Pancakes, and OMG I know how bad the "blahs" can get.

Vet called me last week while I was in California with my dad (this is a big source of the blahs... He is old, and declining) to say that she redid the X-rays on Feronia, and jogged her, and she was 100% sound! Vet now thinks the laminitis/rotation (such as it is) is *old* and wasn't detected before.

So I hopped on her on Friday and walked around for a bit. She was stiff and a bit grumpy about being "in work" again. By Saturday, she was bouncy and happy. Yesterday, she was offering to trot The new trim and shoes have really made a difference and we'll be back to our usual routine soon.

pancakes- good thoughts to you..hang in there. I really hope things look up for you soon.

Quietann- FANTASTIC NEWS! So wonderful.

I think Ollie and I are really starting to enter a real partnership now. I think we are clicking more and more, which I saw this weekend when he and I were performing much better over certain exercises at home, and he's figured out seat cues now (yay!). I've also figured out that he's so much more willing to give more effort when we try new things - I need to remember to switch things up for him to keep his mind moving, or else he goes on auto-pilot and is careless.

I know it sounds sappy and stupid, but as I was grooming him yesterday and he turned his head around to put his nose on me and lovingly snort, it just about made me cry thinking about how this boy is MINE. I feel more connected with him in 5 months than I did with my old boy in 1.5 years. There's something really special about him. To me, anyway